This year at the conference Sean Dalton pointed out that men often fall short in their evangelism. The Evangelism Linebacker was given as an example and as tempting as that method was, the God Squad opted not to use it. What started as a joke at this year's men's conference seems to have taken off in our discussions.  It started with a donation by a friend of God Squad Canada who also comes to visit me when I'm competing at BBQ on the Bow. I told the team I was going to send him an e-mail saying thank you for the donation to the God Squad barbecue team (I didn't send the e-mail). The team started talking about it at the wrap-up dinner after the conference that it would be an interesting way to talk to men. The God squad team in a planning session decided a couple years ago that they really wanted to start reaching younger men and this was an interesting concept to accomplish that goal.

Many of you know that I have been working with youth at risk and it has been on my heart to try and help find them a stable, disciplined environment that they can grow in. I thought it would be something like a Boys Town started by Fr. Flanagan or Bosco Homes started by Fr. Larre.  On Holy Thursday as I was participating in the start of the Easter triduum I was given an internal awareness that the church was their home and they needed to be invited to that home. Several of the God squad team floated the idea of doing a barbeque outreach past men who have attended our conferences with very positive feedback.  I ended up talking to the friend that had made the donation that I had threatened to send the e-mail to which he responded by making another donation towards the barbecue idea.

I was at a gang conference in Orlando and went to a talk by a pastor from Boston who joined with other churches reaching out to the youth in high crime areas. They went out on Friday evenings and walked around the neighbourhood.  He said it took approximately 6 weeks before anybody asked what they were doing.  After that they were able to gain the trust of the youth and start the conversation with them and start addressing their needs.  A week later some the God Squad team were at the One Rock concert and Bishop Henry was saying mass, the wind was howling and the rain was threatening. It was very hard to hear Bishop Henry as he was saying his homily because of the wind and approaching storm. I was given a realization later as I reflected on how hard it is for our young men to hear the voice of their shepherd with all the distractions and storms blowing around in their world.  If I, a committed Catholic father and husband, was struggling to hear Bishop Henry who is one of the loudest and clearest voices we have in Canada today, how much harder is it for these young men, who are easily distracted?  It only confirmed my resolution to fight fire with fire and where there's fire there’s smoke.  If you watch the many Food Network shows such as Barbecue Pit Masters or Best in Smoke, you might notice that food has an interesting way of getting men's attention.  Women have known this since the beginning of time.

At our last God squad meeting it was passed that we set up a barbecue trailer to begin our barbecue outreach ministry and evangelize our men, especially young men. We believe that this approach will have much faster results than the pastor from Boston who took six weeks before anybody would talk to him.  My experience with the barbecue is that it will take about 6 min. before some guy starts talking to you about what you’re cooking and how you're cooking it.  It gives God Squad an opportunity to promote what a godly man is, how important a family meal is, and be that role model for these men as shown in studies. (Please check this study)

So if you are able to support this endeavour by being available to assist at different functions, say a novena to St. Joseph, make a donation, or find a sponsor who might be willing to advertise on the side of the trailer, please do so.  

P.S.  If you have a good deal on a cargo trailer please let us know.